Rain Dancers
by TheDudeLordOfFantasy
Summary: Alan remembers his wife and how they spent their days being parents and gardening together, and how he spent long nights just dancing with her in the rain...oneshot full of sweetness!


Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs and don't claim any ownership over the magnificent television show. I only own my original thoughts, settings and characters.

* * *

It was raining…

Correction, it was _pouring_ down on the slick streets of LA.

Alan always liked the rain. It reminded him of his wife's gardening. She'd spend hours outside in the scorching heat with Alan digging up old flowerbeds and replacing them with new ones. Once a week, on Alan's days off, they'd go out and weed together.

He'd always planted fruit and vegetables, while she planted beautiful flowers in arrays of bright summer colors. They made practical use of their work once her flowers had fully bloomed and Alan's 'crops' had ripened. Their work was then picked and either placed in one of Margaret's gorgeous antique vases around the house or used in one of Alan's delicious mouthwatering dishes.

They both loved the smell of the rain before the droplets hit the ground.

They both loved the feeling of the rain as they raced in the storms.

They both loved the taste of the rain as it hit their tongues or rolled down their skin.

They both loved the sound of the rain as it pattered softly as they lay together listening.

They both loved the sight of the rain as it bounced gently on the plants they worked so hard on.

They both loved each other…

Gardening and the rain made him feel so much closer to his wife. They first met in a parking lot in the rain when she dropped a bag hurrying to get to her car. Their first kiss was in the middle of a rainstorm in a park. It rained the day they moved in together. It was raining when she told him about being pregnant with both Don and Charlie. When Alan looked back on all those special days and realized that in everyone it was raining he was surprised but all those days gave him another reason to love the rain even more.

The rain was letting up slightly being much more gentle than the pouring storm that had been out there moments ago.

He was looking out his window now. Just staring at the small garden out back being gently caressed by the rain.

If was one of those quiet gentle rainstorms that he and his wife would go dancing in. They danced almost every nightly rainstorm after they put their kids to bed. They never needed music in the rain to dance.

The softly sounding rain was their music.

They'd laugh and dance and run under the light of the nearby street lamp of the sidewalk. You could tell that they truly loved each other. Not many people would be able to stand the cold and wetness for their other, but those two did.

They'd come back into their house in the others arms smiling as their damp hair was plastered to their heads and as the dripped silently onto the hardwood floors.

Alan didn't think that Don or Charlie ever knew what they'd did when they were tucked into their beds. He didn't know if they ever wondered what happened when they were asleep. Nights were their alone time. It was their time to express just how much they loved each other.

Don and Charlie loved the rain as well and when it rained during the day all four of them would go outside to watch, and listen, and taste, and touch, and feel the rain as if came down. The only thing that irked Charlie about being out in the rain was that he couldn't work out in it. His paper would dissolve and the ink would run. Don had laughed when little Charlie had wandered and sat in the rain pouting about his soggy notebook. He still got teased about that.

Alan remembered promising the young boy that he'd get him another notebook, and at once his little boy's eyes lit up as he asked if he could have a blue one. Alan had laughed and promised he'd get him a new blue notebook. Then he took him and the rest of his family back inside and made them all hot apple cider, which they drank still watching the rain from the porch.

But the rain didn't only remind him of the good things.

It rained the night his wife died and Alan thought that it was fitting that she go hearing a sound she loved. On the day of her funeral it didn't rain like it does in most movies. It stayed bright and sunny. It was cool and quiet that day… they would go gardening on days like that. Her flowers never seemed brighter on the day she was put to rest even though no one touched them while she was sick.

It was on that day after the funeral that Alan went out and weeded the beds all by himself. He hadn't even changed out of his suit and tie. That was the first time he worked alone in the gardens but it wasn't the last.

He felt closer to his wife being out there and working with he tools. He'd talk to her while working. He told him about everything and then again nothing. He told her about their sons, about helping out at the shelter, and what he was going to prepare for dinner.

He lost his wedding ring a few months after she died while it was raining and he panicked. He searched everywhere he had been twice that day and he got dizzy from all the circles he made looking for it. He found it in his pocket. He forgot that he took it off while he was repainting the living room. He had sat down heavily on the couch staring at the small golden band in his fingers. On the inside a line from her wedding vows was engraved.

_Only you and I could smile in the rain…_

They both had the same idea when they wrote them. They hadn't shared what they were going to be about and when they each read them to each other that's when they knew that they weren't making a mistake. They were meant to be. On the inside of his wife's ring were similar engraved words from his vows.

_We'lldance in the rain till dawn…_

Only the two of them knew what the words on the rings really meant and it was good enough for them. Only they had to know.

Don's first car accident was in the rain during his senior year of high school. He was bringing Charlie home from their school and a mini van went through a stop sign hitting them on the driver's side. The car had flipped a couple of times before finally stopping on its passenger side. Both his children were knocked out cold for a few moments, but Charlie managed to wake up as he heard the sirens coming and when he saw his big brother covered in blood he panicked. Both had concussions but that seemed to be the worst of it. They were lucky. That was one of the reasons he wasn't enthused about getting his driver's license.

Charlie's first high school beating (that Alan knew of) also occurred in the rain. He was waiting after school for Don to drive around front to pick him up when a group of kids started to tease him. He didn't respond to their taunts but tried to ignore them by doing simple math equations in hi head. They didn't like that very much and started to shove him and knocked him down. That's when they got vicious and started beating him for no apparent reason. If Don hadn't shown up and beat them away Charlie most likely would've gotten hurt worse than just a bloody nose, a black eye, and plenty of bruises to last him for the rest of the year.

Alan kept his eyes out on the garden. The faint light was starting to shine through the clouds now. He looked at the clock on the wall for a moment. It was almost 7 o'clock. Don and Charlie should be coming home for dinner any moment now. Alan knew he'd better start getting the food together but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the window.

That's when he knew what he had to do…

He turned to face the door and ran out into the yard into the fading storm.

He did what he had to…

* * *

"Pop?" Don called entering his childhood home after his brother.

"Dad?" Charlie called placing the mail on the coffee table and droppingn his bag on the floor. "You home?"

"He should be," Don said removing his rain-covered coat and placing it on the hook after wiping his feet on the mat. "His car's out front."

Charlie didn't remove his wet coat or wipe his shoes.

"Dad?" he called louder walking into the kitchen that he usually occupied. Seeing that he wasn't there he turned back to Don in the doorway. "Where is he…" he muttered.

That's when Don caught a glance out the window. He wandered over to it ignoring his brother's frantic mutterings of worry over his father. He smiled slightly at what he saw.

"…if his car's outside then maybe someone came and picked him up or…"

"Charlie…" Don said quietly motioning for his brother to come over and see what he was looking at.

"…but then why didn't he tell me he was going anywhere today. He doesn't go to the shelter until tomorrow and…"

"Charlie…" Don hissed again.

"…maybe he just…"

"Charlie! Will you shut up and get over here!" Don said loudly but not loud enough to disturb the scene he was seeing outside.

Charlie looked confused for a moment before noticing that Don wanted him to look out the window. He walked quietly over as Don moved to make room for both of them to watch. They both had identical looks on their face, because at that moment they both knew that love could survive death.

Alan was outside in the rain with his arms out as if around an invisible partner as he danced elegantly through his wife's tulips and daisies with his eyes closed and a smile upon his lips.

Only he and Margaret and he could dance so beautifully together and at that moment his wife was with him. They'd always be together, in life and death, in rain or shine; their love was true.

Their love was true enough to bring out the sun and bring back all their memories…for better or for worse…

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A/N: I didn't start this fic out to turn out like this. I meant to make it turn into some weird angsty dramatic piece for all but I got this and I am falling in love with this one. It is my thirteenth and my only Alan centric fic. I love my minds many twists and turns.

I really wanted another one shot up before school and this is what got. I wasn't sure if I kept Alan in character. I think I did. (I hope I did!) Tell me what you think. I really love this fic so please review and tell me what you think!

Thankies

TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen


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